Kage's journal
by Fluffys-nightmare
Summary: All the Exwires are now Exorcists and all is well, but one day, a demon of an unknown type comes to Japan and True Cross is panicked. Rumor has it that one of the Hell Kings betrayed Satan and fled to Assiah! Some say that he is searching for the Heirs, to give them a means to destroy the Devil... Beware, the King of Shadows is coming... Hints of Am/Shie, Shura/Meph There are OCs.
1. Prologue: Silent goodbyes

Once upon a time, many, many decades ago, existed a world, a dimension surrounded in black mists and red sands, and where one race dominated: demons. Their world was a large island, circled twice by the most impressive barriers: the first was the Styx River and the second, the huge black cliffs of Tartarus, efficiently imprisoning demons inside. This world had a name, the kind of name that terrifies anyone knowing what it means: Gehenna.

If one looked at this huge, roughly circular island, he could without any trouble see a gigantic crack in the very earth, the Erebus Rift, separating in two the southern part of the island. At the bottom end of it, deep in the shadows of the cliffs, there stood a dark city, built with the black stone of the very cliffs, and topped with the arrow of a great tower. The city's name was the Pit, capital of the Shadow Realm.

The tower in itself was like a black needle. Built in black stone, delicately veined of silver and mithril, obsidian tiles and dark, shining metal twisting around it like the vines of an unknown plant, it rose, almost invisible in the surrounding darkness but no less awe-inspiring. It was the home of the city's lord, the most elusive demon of Gehenna, the King of Shadows himself.

Let's come in, discretely. Once you opened the great double doors, you could see the inside had black, dark green and blue themes, floors covered by grey rugs that led to several doors. One to the right opened to a flight of stairs. Red fire shone in the candelabras fixed to the walls. Let's go upstairs, to the Master's quarters.

After passing a thick, wooden black door and climbing more stairs that it should be possible, there stood a light grey curtain hiding an equally grey door, with blue-tinted hinges and handle. Past the door, there stood a huge room that obviously served as a bedroom, and an office, and a library. The walls were of black stone, just like the rest of the castle, but were randomly covered by dark-colored wallpaper. The ceiling was lighted by countless fist-sized blue and green lights, encased in glass globes that moved eerily in the air in an alien ballet of light. The whole floor was covered by fluffy rugs -The Pit is a very cold place, because the Gehennian sun doesn't reach it-, and a strange black and red-tipped flame was burning silently in a vast stone hearth. Large panoramic windows allowed quite an incredible view on the surroundings, on the towering walls of the Tartarus Cliffs splitting in half and on the insanely huge mouth of the Erebus Rift, and on the side of the black cliff, the deadly Stairs shining like a streak of quicksilver. On the East, far, far away from the city, if you had good eyes and if the weather was kind, you could have a glimpse of the greyish black, always misty waters of the Sea of Souls: Lethe. And of course, there was a splendid view of the city itself. Well... Not that it was that great a view: the city was mostly empty. One could see a random banshee here, a couple werewolves there, and of course, the occasionnal CoalTar -the only demons dumb and small enough to brave the Steps without triggering any kind of trap. Yes, the Pit truly was a phantom city, where not even demons dared to come.

I took a circular glance at the room. A single bed with a fluffy mattress, a huge desk on the right, littered with various papers and files, a pile of blank canvases -looking slightly dusty- a couch with too many cushions on it -some were actually on the floor-, shelves filled with more books and scrolls that one could read in a lifetime, and on the walls, enough drawings and paintings to completely conceal the stone behind, each one made with bright colours and exquisite detail, depicting various scenes and landscapes. On the wall in front of the desk was a big map of Gehenna, surrounded by pieces of paper scotched to it. It looked like the lands surrounding the mainland had been explored and painstakingly drawn as detailed as possible. Names were scribbled in red, sometimes barred multiples times and rewritten. Some places were circled in green, and others cleanly barred with the mention 'dangerous'.

With a sigh and a forlorn glance, the figure -that had been standing in the middle of the room for quite some time, mind you- grabbed a backpack from a corner, and put in it several items from the drawers of his desk: he picked a leather-bound book from a bookshelf, a little mirror incrusted with runes from the nightstand -it's twin was pinned on the wall above his bed-, a handful of pencils and other writing instruments, a pouch filled with food, and then shoved the whole thing in the backpack. He then crouched next to the bed and pulled out from under it a glowing blue orb. The globe in itself was a simple spun glass sphere, it's beauty residing in the bright sky blue flame imprisonned inside it, burning itself in an entrancing cycle around a three-inch long feather sparkling red in the mesmerising azure light.. The figure quickly covered it in a black cloth before putting it delicately in the bag. He then reached under a pillow and put the ornate box that was there in a side pocket before rising to his feet again. His long, nimble fingers brushed against the translucid, finely cut gem tied at his neck, that sent a sparkle at each move he did, and sighed deeply, looking at the map above his desk. Quickly, he tore it from the walland threw it into the fire, that started devouring it greedily. Then he turned round, and exited the room without looking back.

As he was descending the stairs, a nearby light revealed a deep green eye, and sent a sparkle to the single tear rolling down his pale cheek. The sound the teardrop made when it hit the ground was like the ring of a knell, cracking my heart as I left the only place I had ever dared to call home... without any chance of ever coming back.

-Kage's journal, entry 1


	2. Entry 1: On the road

**Chapter 1: On the road**  
(Highway to Hell)

_(2 months later)_  
_August 27th, 2009_  
_London, along the Thames_

I was freezing. Well, it was raining cats and dogs, even though it was the end of a -very short- summer, so no surprise there. But I didn't have an umbrella -or shoes, for that matter- and my earlier soak in the Thames were not helping me to stay warm. But as much as I longed for shelter, I just couldn't. Not without my aura attracting all the demons of the city to me, and if I made the mistake of creating a barrier, the results would be the same, but with exorcists this time. I still wasn't sure which one I would chose if I absolutely had to. I couldn't use my powers to go faster, and yet I couldn't wait somewhere for the weather to calm out. I had never seen a storm like this in Gehenna, probably because my home had been so secluded from the rest of the world, and somehow protected by the Tartarus. Yes, it was cold there, but here, in Assiah, it was even worse. Because it was also wet, windy, and that the rain felt like a swarm of CoalTar hitting me in the face. And my bare feet were not helping. I looked up: the bridge was driving near. Only a few hundred steps and I would be able to cross that awful flooding river. Then I would just have to find the airport, hop on the right plane, and say goodbye to the country of rain and puddles. A sigh escaped my blue-tinged lips, creating a silver mist in front of my face as memories rushed in my mind.

***  
This body was almost too tempting when I first saw it, and I couldn't believe my luck. A young male, seventeen years of age, unusually small and frail -about 1m 60 if I guessed correctly- dying of leukemia on a hospital bed. I could feel that the cancer was in its terminal stage, leeching the life off him in his very blood. He couldn't have more than a few weeks -if not days- to live, so he was probably ripe for a demon like me.  
I had appeared to him as he dreamed, a blue-green orb in a sea of pain-filled red, and proposed him a contract: if he gave me his body, mine to possess and to use, I would make sure to leave his soul intact inside, and when I left him, he would be cured. At first, he was sceptic, but upon learning that a demon's word was absolute, excitement started to leak in his voice as he asked me to explain. Once I was in his body, my powers would start destroying the damage done to him and change his sick body to a healthy demonic one. His leukemia would be cured. His immortal soul would be in a deep sleep for as long as I inhabited this body, so he wouldn't see the years pass. In return, I would live in there for as long as I saw fit, and that could be months, years, or centuries. He would awaken, perhaps centuries later, without having aged a day.  
When I finished, there was a long silence filled with thoughts. I was about to ask him what he thought when he asked me _'Why did you choose me of all people?'_. So I frankly answered: _'Because you are dying, and so I wouldn't steal your life like I would if I had chosen someone at random.'_ And so he accepted my deal.  
As I progressively possessed the boy, his features began to change. His wheat blond hair became black as a raven's wing, with blue and green highlights, and the light tan on his skin disappeared, leaving a new shade of 'pale' behind. As I finished settling in, I felt the boy's soul fall asleep, and the hairs of my newly-formed tail brush my thigh. I tried moving my arms, testing my body, wiggling my toes and counting my fingers, breathing the hospital's air experimentally -and yuck, did it stink! It was weird, having a body in Assiah. Everything was... louder. More detailed than as a pure spirit, but less sharp than in Gehenna. I opened my eyes, feeling my pupils adjust to slits to accommodate the sudden light. I then rose on the bed, absently removing the various needles and tubes stuck in my veins - whatever they were supposed to put in my blood was not needed anymore- got on my feet and left the room. An alarm must have rang somewhere because of that, because shouts reached me not three seconds later, and getting closer. I hid in a closet as soon as I saw it, and used my powers to blend in the darkness, and waited for the humans to leave. At a moment, one opened the door, but closed it immediately when he realized there was nothing there. If only he knew... Once the quiet came back, I exited the closet, and followed the signs towards the exit. As I passed the entry hall, I sent a sharp fang-filled grin in the dumbstruck secretary's direction before passing the glass doors. By there, I could already feel the sick boy's rotten blood boiling in my veins, my aura burning away the illness, and the cramped muscles of my back gaining strength.

Careful of my manners, I had hidden my tail as soon as I had left the hospital room, and my wings would be coiled under the skin of my back until I summoned them. But as soon as I put a foot outside, I was blinded with the whitest, hottest light I had ever felt. Dear Gehenna, so this was the Assiah sun? No wonder it was so famous, it really lived up to it's tale: white, blazing, and so warm it made you want it to stay there forever. Not even Father's blue flames were that bright. I closed my eyes and let myself bathe in the sunlight for a few seconds. So nice... Too bad it was also deadly for me. I such a warm embrace, one could easily forget there was no place to hide. In plain sight, you could see so many things, and so many things could see you, exposed, and with no place to hide... So I ran away in the cold shadows of the nearest building.

Over the following months, I had managed to find -read steal- as well money as clothing and enough human food to keep me walking. It's about then that I decided that I didn't like jelly, any tea that had synthetic aromas in it, or cucumbers, and that peanut butter was a pain to remove from the palate. I had, in the first few days of my wandering, stolen a grey shirt, a dark purple and aquamarine hoodie, and a pair of denim jeans -belt included. With my backpack slung over one shoulder, hands in my pockets, tail tightly wrapped against my waist and my fringe concealing my eyes and pointed ears, I didn't look normal, sure, but I still looked human.

But Lady Luck is, as you all know, not so kind. One month of wandering the streets of London had been enough for me to learn the language, and the main habits of the population, such as: sunset was usually the time when demons started to come out. So if I wanted to avoid runs-in with any of my kind, I would have to move by daytime. And because I cannot bear even the thought of going under the spotlight, I started learning the art of staying unseen. Hide in a second's time, moving silently, blending in a crowd or acting exactly like a human would... I learned to keep my eyes from crossing anyone else's. I didn't know why, but I had a feeling that... I would need it soon. And I was right. For soon enough I would realize that my fellow demons were not the only ones I should be worried about.

It was barely one week ago, I was resting in a room in that old, dusty, abandoned building in the East End that I had found barely six weeks ago and had dared to call my hideout. I was just writing in my diary **journal** everything I had found out that day about humans -it was something about the those horsemen with the funny black hats and scarlet uniforms- and scribbling some notes to myself -mainly: that's not because they don't react when you poke one that you can do it repeatedly- and sketching some very nice places and people I had come across. I was so deep in thought that I didn't realize that I had company until the trio of humans was at my door. I didn't have the time to hide. Me as well as my stuff were in plain sight. I just had enough time to conceal my tail in hope to appear human. The men opened the door. Came in. Three males, all between thirty and fifty, covered in a long, black trench coat, two of them armed. One had guns. The other a freaking RIFLE. The last one was carrying a big leather-bound book that looked a bit like a Bible. Well, sh*t! I put down my diary, slowly, and put my hands up to show I wasn't armed. It didn't faze them in the slightest. On the contrary. I had only half a second to duck before the firearms went off. What the heck were those guys, burglars? Or were they in some kind of gang? I jumped away as soon as the second wave of bullets hit and rolled under the bed. It wasn't until the man with the book started reciting some kind of Latin verse that I realized I was in trouble: Exorcists.

I hadn't had a choice. I'm probably the most peaceful demon -aha, bad pun- in Gehenna, but I still can't let myself be shot at without doing anything! I still know how to fight, and when I have to. Taking down the two shooters was easy: I rolled out of under the bed, did a handspring to avoid a bullet, and dived in the shadows in a corner of the room. I reappeared in the opposite corner and took advantage of their surprise to knock them unconscious. The chanting one, though... Well, I must admit, I was curious. So I politely waited until he had finished his psalm, trapped him between the wall and me, and asked him how they had found me. Poor guy, I think I terrified him so much he started talking without even taking time to breathe. Apparently, since I had settled in that building, the neighbors had made up a rumor, saying it was haunted. And eventually, Exorcists had been called. I could hear in the man's voice that they had been expecting a nest of low-level demons, and so the people they had sent were not the highest ranking ones they had. Heh. I bet they had been rather surprised to run in one of the Baal, a Demon King, instead. As to why they had started shooting on sight, well... No comment.

While I was musing, the exorcist decided to make a break for it and, no matter how stupid the thought, threw a can of 'something' at me. I dodged the flying can, but couldn't avoid the liquid that started burning like acid at my skin. I snarled in pain and punched the man in the jaw, the strength of the hit projecting him against the wall, and making him unconscious. I then shook my head to get rid of the droplets still caught in my hair and assessed the damage, a sad look on my -slightly burned, but rapidly healing- face.

The walls, the bed, the floor... everything had been cribbled with bullet holes. My bag and my diary were relatively unscathed -though a little whitened by plaster powder- but unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for the rest. The jacket I had found three weeks ago had more holes in it than some cheeses after a mouse's passage. Well, I still had to leave this place before other Exorcists got there, so I just threw all the important stuff in my backpack and turned to leave. As I was exiting the room, a sensation of déjà vu came over me. I paused, turned around, and took a circular glance around the room. A golden glint on the ground caught my eye. I crouched next to one of the Exorcists, noticing for the first time, under all this holy stuff, the faint smell of ancient magic. It came from the big ring of keys at his belt! I took a key between two fingers and immediately recognized it, and my eyes widened. Time-Space magic! And more precisely, the King of Time and Space, Samael's, trademark! So, my big brother Sammy has sided with the Exorcists, now? Or more likely he was captured when visiting a random game store, knowing his obsession with entertainment... And pink... Maybe he hadn't been caught, after all. But then, why would a key he personally enchanted get in the hands of a low-level Exorcist? I was sure it was his work, the smell of Space magic, and my Nii's personnal touch were unmistakable. I glanced at the pin on the sleeping man's left breast pocket: a heart -shaped, blue and red, silver-lined insignia with a knight's helmet and a christian cross on top... Interesting. I hesitated a second before snatching it from the man's coat and left quietly. I had a feeling I had just found a clue as to where to search next.

And there you have it. Now I know that in Assiah, only the ones that won't recognize me, either as a demon or as a Hell King, will not try to kill/capture me on sight. Geez. Stay away from the night, stay away from the black coats...That's pretty ironic, considering that I'm the Master of Shadows. But as long as I will see the black coats, see the golden pin on their chests, and smell the faint aura of my brother's magic under all that holy-water-and-blessed-steel stuff, I will know to be extra careful. I don't want any trouble with humans, but I know that in order to reach my goal, I will need the help of someone that has lived in Assiah for a long time, and someone beyond Father's rule. My brother Samael just happens to fit this description, and if I play my cards correctly, he may even take me right to my target.

And so, after my musings brought me back to my current situation, I found myself past the bridge and into an alleyway, following the signs towards the airport. I would have to sneak in and wait for the morning, then take the right plane and get in unnoticed. Piece of cake. So I shook the water out of my hair and ears, and started running towards the shining lights of the airport. At this hour and with this weather, I would be sure to pass unseen, even with my bare feet leaving a small squelching sound at each step. As I passed the security, and started slaloming between regular people and the staff, memories rushed again in my head.

It had been two days since the attack. I had been moving ever since, never staying in one location more than two hours to avoid other Exorcists coming after me. Almost an hour ago, I had come to a computer shop and spent my remaining money on a tablet and an USB flash drive for emergencies. Later, on the roof of a Starbucks, I started my research. It didn't take long. One just had to type 'exorcism' to get on the website of the True Cross Order. I immediately knew I had found the right place, because I found the pin on top of the page. With a little time and hacking, I got my information. I needed to get in Japan, and search for Johann Faust V in True Cross Academy. Why my brother decided to get buried in a school is beyond me, but I don't think I'll ever understand what goes on in this overgrown, purple head of his.  
A few hours later, I had downloaded all I needed to know on Japanese -and I would need to be fluent in this language at the very least- and on the London and Tokyo airports in my search for a London-Tokyo flight. I had also deepened my search on the Exorcists of the True Cross Order, only mildly surprised to find that they were obeying to the Vatican, although not directly to the Pope. Just under the highest rank in their hierarchy, I had found a strange position on the side. Mephisto Pheles, Honorary Knight? If my assumptions were correct, and it was my brother up there, then he was some kind of... Exception to the rule? Prisoner and granted a position? And of course, he was also director of the True Cross Academy. Even more curious, though knowing my brother's way with the words, I shouldn't be surprised. So I began preparing, carefully, a plan to meet with him.

And here, nearly three weeks later, with a good knowledge of the Japanese tongue, and a carefully-prepared plan, I had found -read stolen- enough money to keep going, and even if I wasn't counting on buying a plane ticket (what's up with all this security things and papers to have, anyways?), I had enough to keep me going. I had no idea of what I would find there, but I knew the only way to find out was to go there.  
So, using a little -oh, just a little spark, just enough to light a candle- of my powers, I sneaked past the glass gates of the metal detector without setting off the alarm, and slipped in to the waiting area. I gave a glance to the board. The flight for Tokyo was scheduled for 8 am. Another glance at my watch told me it was 9pm. I had all the night to rest. I found the sanitaries with ease, and slipped in one of the cases. I locked the door, magically dried my hair and removed my drenched clothes, only keeping my shirt on. Then, I curled up in a ball, tail coiling around my thighs, and drifted off to sleep...

_10 hours later_

I was awoken by a ray of light on my eyelids. Instantly remembering where I was, I shook off the sleep and scanned my surroundings. Still in the restrooms. My clothes were dry, so I coiled my tail around my waist and slipped on my clothes. All this time, my overly-sensitive ears were catching the sounds of muffled chatter, footsteps and ruffling cloth. I checked my watch: 7:14 am. I got up silently and stretched, cracking my shoulders. A yawn escaped me, and my fangs glinted like the pearly white weapons they were. I then put my backpack on a shoulder, unlocked the door and got out, slipping in the -rare- shadows that still lurked in the corners. A quick check to the board told me my flight was scheduled in half an hour. And I would be on it.

I sneaked in through the baggage entrance, and put a bag on each arm like most of the staff there. They -surprisingly- didn't all have uniforms. All the better for me. I mimicked the motions of the man in front of me, followed the little troop to a trolley, dropped my load, and using a moment of inattention -provoked by my magic-, slipped under the trolley and caught... whatever I could, to keep me from falling. Then, the trolley began moving towards the planes, and at each one, I tried to read where they came from, and where they were going. Finally, I caught sight of a plane sporting an array of kanji, and a 'Japan Airlines' underside it. Bingo. Unnoticed, I slipped in the baggage hold, and hid behind a wall of bags, baggages and cases. There, I made myself small and blended in the countless shadows, silent as a breeze. It's only when they closed the door that I dared breathe again, and only when I felt the plane move that I finally relaxed and made myself comfortable. I was going for a long, long flight, and each hour was driving me closer to an explanation. I sighed deeply, and as I mulled over my memories, I felt my body slowly becoming numb until I was gone in a trance.

**Kage's Journal, entry 2**

Next chapter: Back in Gehenna, Satan's Wrath


	3. Entry 2: Satan's wrath

**Chapter 2: Satan's Wrath**

Kage's castle  
The Pit  
Gehenna

2 months ago

The demon Lord's sharp blue eyes narrowed. His gaze traveled up to the paintings on the wall, lingered on the empty space above the desk where a map used to be, and glanced at the -empty- fireplace. An eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Even when he wasn't here, Kage managed to complicate things. He knew that, of course, and so had imagined a lot of things when he came, but this... wasn't what he had expected. His son's place, for example. He had expected a dark, gothic place, filled with black candles and furs and the skulls of defeated intruders and various "interesting" things in little glass pots like each and every one of his sons... Paperwork, even! But no, his son's room was a clean, spacious, tidy place with shelves filled with more reading material that he had seen in all of his son's rooms COMBINED, and colorful paintings covering the walls. He looked up at one of them: the Great Bridge.

Stone as red as blood, hints of purple and cobalt veins, chalk-white milestones, a great and proud arch linking the two sides of the Erebus Rift. A gorgeous sight, highlighted by the bloody colors of a sunset.

He moved his eyes to another one, shockingly green: a view of the Amahara garden, taken just before dawn, when the flowers are still closed and every leaf is covered in faintly sparkling morning dew. Each and every flower, tree, leaf, Greenman and goblin had been rendered with incredible precision.

The next one: an aerial sight of the Cerberus Hills, the quarries of Gehenna. Black glistening obsidian, hard grey granite, streaks of marble and the glint of adamant veins running like metal rivers in the stone. The far left hill null of life, covered in grey ashes, everlasting reminder of one of the Lord of Gehenna's temper tantrums.

Another one had been painted at Cocytus, the spring of he Styx: the clear water sprouting from the icy grounds and gathering in little ponds down the mountain side.

And another, a view of Rhadamante, the underground city, buildings carved into the mountain itself.

And another at Lux, the city of Light and Lucifer's capital.

And another from the roofs of Elysium's great night market.

And again, the World Trees.

And another, Teleri.

And again

and again

.  
.

'Oh, the irony', thought the Demon King bitterly. 'The only one I banned from Gehenna seems to know its wonders better than anyone else on this god-forsaken realm. Just how did he manage to get up the Tartarus Walls? I made sure he couldn't climb the Stairs, so how did he get in Gehenna?' Whilst he was wondering how his son had managed to skirt around his orders, the demon realized something. Kage couldn't show himself freely in Gehenna, and had probably made all those paintings because he had thought that if he couldn't come to Gehenna, he could still make Gehenna come to him. He sighed. What a fool...

As he was scanning the room for other things that might have escaped his search, Satan's eyes spotted a piece of white near the fireplace. Of course, there was no fire there -not anymore- or he wouldn't have found it. But what better place than the chimney to make something disappear? He came closer, crouched, and picked up the piece of paper. It was burnt, blackened by smoke, but still recognizable.  
A map fragment.

The paper showed a place down the Pit, the outline of the Lethe Sea on the western side, a piece of the Falls, where the Styx was flowing down the Wall, and surprisingly enough, hand-drawn on the great expanse of black water, an island. A little building with a tower had been added on it, and named 'Shadow Haven'. A dotted line was joining the island and the beaches of Lethe, with a little boat drawn in the middle. The King immediately asked for a map of the Pit.

It took the demon King and his underlings several hours to reach the Sea of Souls, Lethe, and even more time to find the place where Kage had hid his embarcation. It had been concealed in a half-immersed cave, a dory made of dark polished wood, shining with a reddish glow even when all the light came from the King's flames. A wood Satan had never seen, neither in Assiah or Gehenna.

"I have a bad feeling about all this..." muttered the demon as he sat in the dory and grabbed the oars. He then started paddling, and his minions either flew -for those who could- or swam all around him as they made their way towards the island creeping in and out of a dense fog.

It took about half an hour for the blue-flaming demon to reach the fog cloud. As soon as the embarcation touched the mist, it divided and spread, creating two towering walls, on each side of the dory, in a matter of seconds. The reddish sky of Gehenna was piercing through the white cover. Satan brought the oars back to the inside of the boat as an invisible pushed it smoothly towards the island. His sharp blue eyes soon made out a shape on the patch of earth, like a black pillar near the top of the 'hill' of the island. Shadow Haven. The building looked a bit too much like a church to the King's tastes. It was, all in all, a flat , rectangular construction of black stone and wood, with a long needle-like tower.  
Heh. His Shadow Child had always loved heights as much as he loved his peace and quiet. The now very curious demon got out of the dory as soon as it hit the rocky shores and made his way up, his eyes riveted to the column of the tower.

From up close, the building looked even more like a chapel, though this impression was rapidly erased when the demon King got inside. There were three rooms: the first was a living-room that must also have served as a workplace. Cushions and pillows were piled in the corners, bookshelves on every wall, and every table was covered in paint stains, a pile of canvases on the ground, a big, washed out pot of paint filled to the brim with the stylized handles of paintbrushes. One of the shelves contained enough pots of various shades of paint to paint the whole room with the colors of the rainbow.  
The second room was smaller, and served probably both as a kitchen and a cooking lab. Ingredients (where did Kage find all those pots, for Gehenna's sake!) and spices, going from CoalTar tails to rare Assiahn salt, in pots or just drying out in front of the window. Everything, from the tables to the pans, was sparkling clean.  
The third room, the demon discovered, was a bedroom. And dear Gehenna, did it look comfortable. Mattresses had replaced rugs, blankets, pillows, covers and cushions in a big pile, forming some kind of nest. The whole place smelled of Kage.

Satan couldn't really believe had built this without anyone knowing. Yes, he was skilled, but still... He must really have been bored. But that didn't explain why he had fled to Assiah. As he exited the room, Satan spotted a faint glint near the end of the corridor. It was a door, concealed by both shadows and a curtain. The handle was flickering and reflecting his blue flames, only clue that the door was even here. He opened it, and suddenly filled with a strange, cold feeling in his gut, he began to climb the stairs inside the tower.

When, half an hour later, the King exited the building, his face was a blank mask, and his eyes icy. His flames were all over the place, crackling in an ominous manner, betraying his emotions. As his minions started fluttering all around him, questioning him, asking for answers, and all-together insulting his son and cursing him for upsetting their King, Satan felt a burning rage rush through his veins. A hate-filled glare unleashed his bright azure flames on the poor unsuspecting demons and burnt them to a crisp in less than a second.

Left alone on the rocky path, the King of Gehenna focused on the tower behind him as he started walking away. It suddenly burst in flames, stone and metal melting under the horrendous heat of the blue fire, fueled by the raging emotions of the betrayed father. The whole of Shadow Haven was quickly engulfed in the eery light of Satan's fire as the King left without looking back. His mind was turning, over and over, what he had found in his son's hideout; and his heart felt empty, too shocked to react to anything.

Maps. There had been maps everywhere, stretching on every wall and up to the ceiling, drawn by ink, charcoal, pens -was that blood on the far left corner?- or carved in the very wall. Maps of Assiah, of Gehenna, of a very detailed version of the Lethe Sea... and of the Forbidden Territories. Some places were circled, others scratched and redrawn, itineraries shown. Names in golden ink, and his son's chicken scratch. The King's gaze wandered on a place circled thrice in red. The name? Fire Forest. Accompanied with a detailed drawing of little flaming birds flying over a black forest. The mention 'FINALLY FOUND IT!' drew his gaze. Found what? The demon then walked to his son's desk, littered with literal piles of paper and parchment. A thick file was resting on top, with the mention: "BLUE FIRE". He opened it.

The first sheet of paper was a drawing, made in shades of red and blue, depicting a magnificent bird on a rock. The bird looked like an eagle crossed with a crowned crane, and little tongues of fire were licking its wings, crest and tail feathers. The Phoenix's glare was fierce and intense, but it's most shocking feature was the fact that its flames were blue like a morning sky. Azure blue. Exactly the same shade as the King's own flame.

Satan lifted a hand to his face to cover his eyes. He knew that creature. Had known it for a long time. How could he ever forget the very creature that had lent his spark, allowing the blue Holy Flame of the Seraphs to become the key to open the Gehenna Gate?  
Feeling dread creeping in his stomach, the Demon King began flipping the pages of the file, and the dread increased further, along with a slight nausea. A few pages further in the file, he saw another drawing, a sketch of a glass orb encasing a cerulean flame. Beneath it, a little text:

"After all those years in Praeter Gehenna, I finally reached my goal. Above is a drawing of the case in which I put in stasis the tail feathers the Blue Phoenix gave me. The magic signature matches Father's flames. I am confident that combined with angelic blood, this flame can open the portal between Assiah and Gehenna. Now, all I need is to give it to my half-brother in Assiah to give him the power needed to actually challenge Satan. I would gladly use it myself, but no matter how unconventional I am, I still have demon blood in my veins. We all know what happens when a demon touches angel blood, and it isn't pretty. So: off to Assiah we go!And I'll need to make sure I am not seen. Nobody knows what the King of Shadows looks like, but it isn't a risk I am willing to take."

The Demon King crumpled the drawing and threw it to the ground, where blue flames consumed it. Now he understood. His sixth born, so gentle and quiet, almost too sweet for a demon, had betrayed him. Kage had ignored his Kingdom and his duty, and went exploring the Forbidden Territories, Praeter Gehenna as he called it, to find a way to bring his father down. The demon king bit his lip, trying in vain to keep his temper down. Why? Why, of all people, would his _son_ betray him in such a way? Satan's eyes fell on a shelf in a corner, where a pile of little black, silver-lined notebooks were resting. Kage's journals. He grabbed the books and let his fury run wild. Blue lighted the room as paper and wood began to burn.

One hour later, there was no evidence that someone -that anyone- had ever lived on this island, except for a large, charred hole in the ground where no grass would ever grow again. The King of Gehenna was walking back to Hel, Gehenna's capital, in complete silence, as if lost in his thoughts. He didn't acknowledge his minions when they greeted him in Limbo, didn't greet the Minotaur at the gate of the 7th Circle, and didn't even seem to recognize his son Astaroth when he passed by! No, stone-faced, head high but eyes blank and glassy, his flames barely licking his arms and horns, he walked down the numerous halls of his castle like an automaton.

It wasn't until later, when he found himself alone, locked in his chambers and away from prying eyes, that his composure faltered and his blank mask broke. The Lord fell to his knees, feeling as empty as he had been when he Fell, hair covering his face and shoulders shaking with mirthless laughter. His grip on the books relaxed and they fell to the ground with dull 'thumps'. He didn't seem to notice. Instead, he turned his face to the unforgiving skies, feeling a question escape his lips -a broken man's whimper, so pained and sad and insanely enough, genuine...

"Why?"

No one answered.

**A/N: Praeter Gehenna: Beyond Gehenna**

**Next chapter: New world, new people, new rules.**  
**Forgive me for being so slow with my updates.**


	4. Entry 3: Welcome to Japan

**Entry 3: Welcome to Japan**

The least I can say is that Japan was... well, different in a lot of ways. The weather, for example. At this time of the year and of the day, there would have been heavy clouds hiding the sun and making coats appear everywhere, with umbrellas to boot. Well, not in Japan. Nope, not a single cloud in the sky. Another thing that was different was the level of pollution in the air. I had to put a hand over my face when I exited the airport to give my nose time to adjust. Backpack slung over a shoulder, I started searching for a place to change pounds into yen, while setting the time on my watch.

When I finally found what I was searching for, the sun was high in the sky and the heat was almost unbearable. So immediately after changing my money, I set off to find a place to cool down. The heat was making me drowsy. I soon spotted a park, and a handful of seconds later, I was up in a cherry tree, sitting casually in the cool shade, 5 meters above the ground. Sunlight was softly dancing on my face, filtered by the leaves, like tiny little golden and green brushes of warm air. Oh, dear Gehenna. Fresh air, calm and quiet, warm breeze, and more colors than the Pit had ever seen, who could have asked for anything more? I really do love Assiah.

When I awoke from my lethargy, my first thought was that it was beautiful. The sun was setting, bloody colors streaking the clouds, and the temperature was quickly dropping. But as soon as I realized that I had wasted precious daylight napping instead of finding a place to stay at night, my only thought was to kick myself. Apparently; the demonic instincts in me, which I never had to experience before -due to my lack of visits Above- were a bit stronger than I had expected: a little nap in daytime, and I was already reverting to the nocturnal habits of demons.  
I jumped off the tree, landing silently on the leaves-covered ground. Shaking myself free of the pieces of bark and the dry leaves stuck to my clothes, I walked out of the park and into the streets of the now brightly-lit city. My pupils were slit by the aggressive light of the countless plasma screens, lampposts, and cars all around. After a few hundred meters in a street as bright as day, I opted for another option and disappeared in the shadows of a sideways alley, spared by both blinding light, and annoying noise. My vision instantly sharpened, and my stride became more confident.

An hour later, I wished I had never left that street.

*Flashback*

They had been five, clothed in white jackets, burly and laughing, and very loud. The girls were young adults, no more than twenty three, two fragile things, doe-eyed and shivering with pure fright. The third one was lying, limp and broken on the ground, clothes torn and blood turning the earth around her into reddish mud. A blade was shining, ruby red in the faint moonlight. One of the girls -the left one- let out a muffled whimper. The men laughed even harder.  
Hidden behind a wall, a shadow with glinting green eyes, I couldn't detach my eyes from the scene. The man with the knife approached the frightened women, seeming to hesitate over which one he should pick, and finally grabbed one by the hair. As she was almost lifted off the ground with a yelp, the white bag she had been holding moved and...

Dear Gehenna! It was not a bag at all, it was a child! Fair-skinned, with platinum blonde hair, clothed in white, I had mistook him for a bag. I wouldn't give him more than 6 years old at most, but still... Shame on me. His face had been hidden in the woman's chest but when she was lifted, I caught a glimpse of teary red eyes. The little boy fell to the ground as the woman in the murderer's grasp began screaming and struggling, but in vain. The yakusa were still laughing, large bellows and shrill cries. One spat on her black hair. Another grabbed an arm.

As for me, I was still weighing my options. Yes, this was a disgusting scene. As a rule, demons rarely attacked a female with her pups, and even less a female of their own species -well, unless for some mating or claiming rituals, but this was obviously not the case here. On the other side, I was a demon king, and as such, above this kind of would be most undignified to simply barge in and kill everyone like a simple-minded beast. I could just leave. I am a demon, and demons are supposed to be selfish, surely, it wouldn't be that hard?

Lost in my thoughts, I was detaching my shadowed form from the wall, ready to leave, when I spotted a flash of red. Frowning, I did a double take. The only red was the blood on the ground and on the yakuza's blade, wasn't it? That's what I thought until I locked eyes with the kid. It was a stupid move, he shouldn't have been able to see me in the first place, not with my cloak of shadows. But he did, and once I looked in those azure-circled scarlet orbs, I couldn't look away. It wasn't their color that shocked me -I had seen plenty of demons with much stranger eye-color- but the pure sadness, the terrifying knowledge -that child _knew_ what I was!- and the silent **plea** in those child's eyes... Like in a flash, I saw myself, centuries ago. No youngling should ever have eyes like that, be them demon or human. The human soul in my mind stirred, and somehow, reminded me that I wasn't your average bloodthirsty and selfish demon. It was like a gentle push in the back, and I felt myself stumble forward.

I took me half a second to regain my stance, and I mentally told the man's soul in me: 'You won, I'll save them. Now, go back to sleep, it isn't going to be pretty' and stepped out of the shadows, making my presence known.

"Excuse me, but would you please unhand the ladies and let them go? After all, one should be on his best behavior in front of children, and I don't see you doing that. At all." I added with the barest hint of a devilish smirk.

Okay, maybe I was a little bit overzealous. There was no chance in Gehenna that they were going to heed my -albeit excellent- advice, but it was worth a try, right? And indeed, the men in white, as startled as they were by my sudden appearance, were now regaining their composure and sneering at me. One of them, burly and head as bald as an egg, covered in tattoos, and at the very least six and a half feet tall, trod towards me as if he owned the ground I was walking on, a mightily stupid expression on his face. His size didn't faze me; I had battled demon ten times his size and won without a scratch, (demon King here, remember?). Though, I was curious as of what he would do. So when he looked down on me (with squinted eyes, how repulsive) and slurred -quite aggressively, might I add- with a terrible accent, typical of the city:  
"Ya gotta problem, midget? Wanna have th'sluts fer ye'self, maybe?"  
I blinked. That sure wasn't nice at all. And that man's alcoholic breath made me want to puke. But still, since he had asked a question, I replied politely, making sure to employ a form of Japanese as elaborate and old as I dared, outright mocking.  
"Nay to both of thy questions, sir. I shan't bother ye gentlemen any longer, and shall be on me way..." I trailed off with a circular glance at the whole scene, memorizing any details that might have escaped my sight, and deciding on my next course of action. Okay, I think I've got it. The hesitation had lasted for less than a second. I finished my sentence with a grin, showing off a pair or two of sharp, white, deadly demon fangs. "... as soon as my business here is done."  
And with this, I took off, demonic fast, wrenched Lady n°1 from man-in-white's hands, dodged the knife aimed at my throat, and simultaneously lifted my living cargo on a shoulder (potato bag-like) while slicing the now discarded knife in pieces with razor-sharp claws to avoid any further use. I then jumped to Lady n°2, threw her on the other shoulder with a quick apology, secured the both of them with an arm, grabbed the child by the collar, and ran away. During the five seconds the fight had lasted, and all the run afterwards, the women hadn't stopped shrieking, hurting my ears like too-loud music. Oh, well. The good thing was that at least they weren't struggling... too much. But I couldn't very well throw them screaming and crying in the main street, could I? So I chose another route to make it so they would have a chance to calm down.

Three or four streets later, I slowed down from my insane (for a human) racing and down to a more normal-ish jogging pace. Without moving the women on my back, I picked up the kid and set him on my chest, securing him with both hands. His arms immediately latched around my neck in a dead grip. Once I was sure he was secure and as comfortable as he could get, I resumed my trot, absently noticing that the yells and shrieks had quieted down.  
After a few seconds, a voice to my right (Lady n°2) shyly said: "Where are you taking us?"  
The tone was frightened and pitiful. I thought about the question for a second, then replied: "A crowd. It would be safer if there were witnesses everywhere when they try to get you back." I marked a pause, then added: "After that you're on your own. Same if you decide to leave by yourself."

As the minutes passed, the whimpers of Lady n°1 gradually quieted down. The child's shivers too, though I think my body temperature may have more to do with that. I lengthened my stride.

Finally. Gehenna bless my sense of orientation. From where I was, some two hundred meters away from the exit, I could see the countless lights of the shops and cars, blinding my sensitive eyes. Two hundred meters, separating us from safety. I smirked. It wouldn't be long, now... Just one more second... I jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the bullet directed at my head, and turned on the spot to kick the yakusa in the back. A groan of pain. Delightful. But having my arms didn't really help, so I dropped... well... everything. More shouts of pain. I mumbled an apology to the indignant females and turned to face the attackers. White jackets, again, though these ones had guns. I recognized three of the five thugs from earlier -coincidentally, those I hadn't touched- plus half a dozen more, all armed. Cocking my head to the side with curiosity, I asked:

"Only nine? Where have gone the others?"

They must not have liked the question, because suddenly, I had half a dozen guns aimed at my head. I frowned.

"How do you plan on harming me with such blunt things?"

My only answer was a curse and a bullet to the head. Snorting, I deflected it faster than their poor human sight could detect, and then lifted a brow at them, pretending it had missed me completely. I sneered at the shooter.

"I'm sorry. Was that aimed at me?"

I heard the three human behind me get out of my way and stick to the walls. Smart move, I thought, but immediately took it back when the "click-clack" of a pair of heels indicated me that one of the women had fled. A gunshot later, I heard a fleshy 'thump'. A coppery smell and a heartbeat slowing. Shot to the head. Dead on the spot. Foolish woman, had I not made clear that I would only protect them if they chose to stay? Wouldn't that imply that if they fled, I would _stop_ protecting them? Bless it all to the Church! I sighed deeply. What a waste...

The next breath, though, was an error. A slight wind had picked up without me noticing, and now, the whole alley strongly smelled of blood. Of fear. Of despair and salty human tears. And it drove my instincts to the surface, sending all my senses in overdrive. I felt a lengthening fang on my lip, and a prickle in my eyes. I immediately knew they had started glowing like green Hellfire. The shadows on the walls started stretching, wriggling and whispering as they answered my silent call. A grin stretched on my lips, showing pearly fangs, and suddenly, I disappeared in the shadows like a dream. Soon to be a nightmare. From my new spot on the wall, I stared at the yakusa with a cat's glare, waiting for them to notice me. As soon as one spotted me, and his gasp alerted the others, I closed my eyes and disappeared. Shadows made a black screen between the yakusa and the ones I wanted out -it was mainly for the child, he had seen enough horrors for tonight- and I bolted, giving in the blood lust.

Screams ending in gurgles: ripped throat.

Horror and the acrid smell of urine, yuck.

Tearing noise and a thump: oops, that was the left arm, not the right.

Dodging bullets like drops of water.

Wrist-deep in a man's guts.

Another's brain smashed under my heel.

Screams.

Bloodlust.

Death.

Breaking the spine of one who tried to flee.

Tasting blood on my tongue.

My demon Heart ablaze.

Blood boiling in my veins.

I wanted them dead.

I needed them red and limp on the ground,

I WOULD DEVOUR THEM AND DRINK THEIR BLO-

_**"Stop!..."**_

Everything froze. I stopped everything I was doing, eyes wide with shock. The voice was in my head. I had only heard it once, but it was still as familiar as my own. The human boy. The one whose body I currently possessed, it was his voice. How come he was talking? How come he was awake at all, least of it aware? I tried pushing him back to sleep, back in his corner of my soul, I didn't have time for this, but he was stubborn, resisted and fought all the way, didn't want to g-

**"BANG!"**

Shock. Pain. Torn flesh in my side. Something warm dripping, no, flowing from my body. Cold air somewhere it wasn't supposed to be. I looked down, already knowing what I would find. Black, inky blood soaking my shirt and my pants. I felt for the cold steel between my ribs, dazed. Hole in the front, hole in the back. Through my lower chest. The shocked daze I was in broke when I suddenly coughed, spat blood. There was no bullet inside, but it had ripped through my lung. I turned towards the responsible, eyes slit in fury. There would be hell to pay, literally. I pushed the human soul in me out of my way, advancing towards the now panic-stricken, blood-soaked, utterly pathetic man in white who had dared to raise a weapon against me. His only reaction was to fire again. Moron. This time I was ready, and I caught it between two fingers with a practiced ease. Adrenalin made my senses go in overdrive and gave my power new heights. The man before me tried to fire again. Missed. The gun went flying a second later, the man's hand still attached to it. A scream. And his head went flying next. The scent of blood was overwhelming, but I wouldn't lose control again. I quickly scanned the area, searching for survivors. Ah, yes! There was that man I had only mutilated, without killing him. I glided to him, crouched down and looked at his terrified face.

Then I blurted out "Ladies and younglings are not game for you to hunt. Those who forget they ARE important to your very species survival do not deserve to live and cause more harm. So tell that to... well, whoever finds you, yes?" I finished with a big, fanged grin. He nodded with terror-filled energy, almost spasmodic, as I took my leave.

A look at my hands told me I was covered in blood. That wouldn't do at all. I shook my hands clean of blood, and used a pulse of my aura on myself to clean the various bloody pieces of flesh, and brain matter stuck on them, and evaporate the blood splatters on my skin and clothes. Once done, I straightened my jacket and dismissed the smoke screen. Time to face the lady... not to forget the child.

I must admit, I should have expected it. The Lady n°2, the one that was still alive, was huddled close to the child, cowering in a corner, and sobbing up a river, which made her make-up run and her eyes puffy. It was ugly. But she was still a lady, so time to try and be a gentleman. I cleared my throat. That made her jump and stare at me like I had just killed someone... Which I kind of did. I stepped closer and crouched next to her, raising a hand to her face. She flinched, eyes wide open and entire body tense. I wiped a lock from her face with a blank look on mine. Then sighed. Rose. And told her.

"The exit is over there."

I nodded towards the brightly lit alley a few hundred meters away. I then looked back at her. "Can you stand?" I offered her a hand. She stared distrustfully at the claws, then gulped and put her hand into mine. I gently helped her up, glad I wasn't deemed a monster on the spot. Child still in her arms, she took a few steps, staggered... I caught her. Gehenna's Moon, if she couldn't walk, she should have said so! Humans and their stupid pride... I took her in my arms -bridal style, this time, and not like a potato bag- and walked her to the exit. I could feel her eyes on me, but ignored it and kept my face blank. Once at the entrance of that alley, suddenly assaulted by all that sudden light, I made a stop, grimacing lightly. As soon as stars stopped dancing behind my eyes, I let Lady n°2 down, still making sure she wouldn't fall.

"Can you find your way home from here?" I asked, and after a second's hesitation and a look around, she nodded. I smiled. "Good. Have as nice a night as you can." and I stepped back. The woman let down the child, and they both gave me a deep bow -which pleased me tremendously- as I stepped back in the shadows. I had just the time to hear a mumbled "Arigato, akuma-san!" before the rushing cars swallowed the child's voice. With a quick grin -it was the first thanks I had received in... forever-, I jumped as high as I dared, landed on a building's roof, and started running deeper and deeper in the silent part of the town, away from the crime scene, away from the lights, a shadow under the moon of Assiah. I had something to do, but first, I needed a place to rest and meditate to make sure the bloodlust and my lapse in control wouldn't happen again any time soon.

**A/N: When a demon says "Bless it all to the Church", "Holy Eden" or something of the like, it usually is to swear.** **Sorry with the slow updates, my studies caught up with me. But I can assure you, I did not abandon this story! So keep reading and keep reviewing, please!** ^^

**Next chapter: True Cross Academy, disturbing news.**


	5. Entry 4: Disturbing news at True Cross

**True Cross Academy, **  
**Entry 4: Disturbing News**

_TCAc, Okumura dorms_  
_August 29th, 2009_  
_03:16 pm_

Rin yawned wide, showing sharp teeth to whatever would be daft enough to spy on a demonic teen doing nothing, shifted around a bit, patted his pillow to fluff it up, and returned to his lazing around. He had a purring -or snoring, who knows?- Kuro on his chest, a discarded Shonen Jump near his hand, and was currently -for those who didn't guess- on his bed at the dorms of True Cross Academy. It was 3 pm and the sun was bright in this lovely end-of-the-summer afternoon.

It had been more than 6 months since the Illuminati debacle, and almost two years since Rin had discovered his heritage. Now seventeen, more mature than he ever had been, he had over time showed quite some changes, partially due to his demon status, and partially to the influences in his life.

Rin had gained a bit in height, and now wore his hair a bit longer -and a lot messier-, which made him look a bit more like his demon brothers, even though he didn't have a weird addition to it like Amaimon or Lucifer's spikes, thank Heavens. He had also, after a few "sparring lessons" with Amaimon or battles with powerful demons, decided to give the demon method a try and stop filing his nails, and now wore a set of dark blue claws at each fingertip -which was handy for slicing vegetables, but less for picking his nose.

Kurikara hadn't changed, more scratches on the sheath and the blade, but otherwise holding fast and keeping his Demon Heart contained. But the only real change about Rin Okumura was on his chest, under the form of a small red, blue and silver Exorcist insignia pinned to his brand new Exorcist coat.

Indeed, Rin had graduated about 3 months ago now, not without a lot of work of course, both at swordplay with Shura, revisions with his friends, impromptu tests made-up by Yukio, and -strangely enough- demonology, demon power and fist-to-fist fighting lessons from Amaimon, who had decided to help -his words: "_'Cause it's fun to fight Okumura, but it would be better if he could actually fight back. And 'sides, I'm bored, so..._" _add shrug_- and so, Rin had been forced to mature a bit, and learn a lot.

He had left the school part of the Academy to focus more on sword training, sparred with Amaimon and fought off all the horrors he kept throwing at him -it went from a baryion bigger than he was to a forests worth of Ents with the occasional pit of Nagas- and spent his afternoons preparing for the basic Aria, Tamer and Doctor tests, because he was required to at least know a bit about every way of Exorcising even though he would be a Knight. And now, after the hell race he had done,Rin Okumura, officially a lower, 1st class Exorcist (so two ranks under Yukio, which pissed him off all the time) was also officially lazing around all day while waiting for a mission to come up, and hoped it would stay that way until school began again.

Of course, there was still trouble in the world: Satan was still alive, the Illuminati still running, and he still found CoalTar under his bed whenever he forgot to use the vacuum at least once a week! But otherwise, everything was fine, he didn't have a death sentence hanging above his head like the sword of Damocles, school was over, his friends were okay with his ascendance... Yeah, everything was fine. And besides, there was no rush at all! I mean, they had both waited for centuries, if not millennia, a few more days -monthsandpossiblyyears- couldn't hurt, right? Well, maybe not the CoalTars, no, those would need to go soon...

With a moan, Rin forced his mind to wonder elsewhere than the upcoming housecleaning. Let's see... His friends! Right, let's think about the others. Well... How to say? Things had changed a lot in six months.

Firstly, Renzo had been exposed as a spy only three weeks before the Exorcist Exam, so about 5 months after his 'traitor escape' as Ryuji liked to call it. He had only had enough time to send Yamantaka with a SOS, and his friends had arrived just in time to save him. A lot of bazooka shots and gun fire (from Bon and Yukio), thrown baryions -courtesy of Amaimon, who had joined in the fun-, sutras, impromptu greenery thrown at the enemy, and swipes of blue flame later -and a LOT of dodged attacks from various Illuminati members-, the group of friends had made a quick retreat with their injured pink-headed friend. Indeed, his treatment at the hands of Lucifer's minions, and later, one of Amaimon's baryions -"_but it was so they wouldn't pick him up and force him to go with them, Aniue! I swear I didn't mean to break him!_" (Amaimon's words)- had left Renzo in the hospital for over 2 months with crushed ribs and legs. Even now, he still had to use his Shakujo (K'rik) as a crutch, and kept whining about it even after Mephisto forced Amaimon to apologize. His handicap hadn't made him stop running after Izumo, though...

Oh, and because he had been playing double spy and later been injured, Renzo had failed the Exorcist Exam. So he still had one more year of Cram school to do. Of course, his family had been pissed off at him, but everyone with eyes could see they were very worried about him and it was their -strange- way of showing it. Now, still limping, but finally out of the hospital, Renzo had gone back home in Kyoto to assist to a baby shower in honor of his brother Juzo and Mamushi's upcoming baby. The least one could say is that those two hadn't lost time at all since the Fujo-O disaster. Lucky them! thought Rin with a smile.

Konekomaru had graduated as Aria, working nearly as hard as Rin to make it with the honors, and now had the same title as Rin to go with the pin he wore proudly. He had invested a lot of time into his pet project, a database sorting each and every demon known by rank, powers, weaknesses, fatal verse, and other information, to put together all the ways of fighting them. He had, for months, begged the ArchKnight, Lightning, to help him make up his website and submit his project to the Grigori to make improvements on the working demonology system. With the ArchKnight's active support, the website had quickly become a reference: the Dictionary of Demons. Konekomaru had been practically glowing when the Paladin himself had come to congratulate him. It had been five months ago, and the database was still evolving, Exorcists from the entire world adding data daily.

Nowadays, he couldn't be seen without his Just-in-case shoulder bag, containing a Bible, a pile of sutras, some holy water, his phone and a tablet with the updated version of his work. And he did a fairly good job as a strategist, where even Yukio had been forced to recognize his potential was even greater than his own. Konekomaru was a genius in his own right, in the sense that he always guessed the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents **and** allies **and** environment and thought of a way to put them to use in a creative way. It was always great to have him behind you, guessing at the other side's attacks and making you dodge them several seconds before they came.

Ryuji, still wearing his chicken crest like some kind of rooster, had passed his Exorcist Exam with the honors, and was now a middle, 2d class, one level under Yukio and one above Rin. He had been the one to review Rin's lessons and bash him on the head for hours on end with the intent to make him learn his verses and pharmacology, even going as far as to ask Shiemi and her familiar for specimens and threatening to make Rin swallow them all if he didn't recognize a poison from a medicine. Rin still didn't know where, between Cram school classes, his own studying and teaching Rin how to make the difference between a ghoul and a zombie, Ryuji had found the time to practice for his own Dragoon Master. But the thing was, he had gotten it! Along with the Aria Master, and he was currently studying for a Tamer one.

For as long as he had been in the Academy, he had believed himself not to have the 'talent' needed to summon demons, but after his contract with Karura, the Phoenix, he had decided to give the Fire Kingdom a try. So far, he had managed to make himself obey from some kind of angry monkey who could spit fireballs (if you begged for half an hour and were ready to dodge said fireballs) and, once, a salamander. It was still far from summoning the Phoenix, but there was still hope.

Now, he could be seen around with his own bag, containing a tablet -even he had found Konekomaru's database incredibly useful- and sutras, with the cleaning kit for his favorite weapon, a bazooka. Under the Exorcist coat, he always wore a belt of munitions -mostly Rot-based, because Rot attacked Air and it was Air that made the most damage to Earth-based summons, and everyone wanted to protect Shiemi anyways- and a knife for emergencies. Right now, he had gone home to celebrate with his family both their graduations and Juzo's future addition to the Shima family.

Izumo Kamiki, after having let go of all ties with her family, had decided to focus all her energy on her familiars, realizing how much she loved them after having nearly lost them. She had fully immersed in her miko training, practicing her dancing and rituals until she could execute them as easily as her mother once did. In order to achieve this, she had begged Mephisto for a special key, and spent all her afternoons training in a temple in Kobe under the watchful eye of the priestesses there. One day, the High Priest had presented her with a beautiful katana, named Gin'norin no Ken, and told her it was said to host a Yoko spirit's power. The Yokos being, just like the Byakkos, foxes of the Kitsune family, she could probably use it better than they could at the temple.

The priest told her that if she managed to take a Knight minor in her training, he would not only give it to her, but also give her a way to summon it and its power, the Fox Fire. After getting her familiars approval -and their appreciation-, Izumo accepted the offer. And so, she passed the Exorcist Exam with a Tamer master, and minors in both Aria and Knight, leading her to the same level as Ryuji, middle 2d class, and gained Gin'norin, the Silver Bells sword. She now had a tattoo on her left shoulder which she used to summon it, much like Shura did.

But Izumo had also spent a lot of time and energy into caring for her familiars. Uke and Mike loved her now that she attended the ceremonies and celebrated the harvest with them. She had taken to giving them monthly offerings of rice and sake, which pleased them tremendously, and had, little by little as her determination, her will and her belief in them and in herself grew stronger, augmented their own power level until they both gained a second tail, symbol of power for foxes. With them at her side, Izumo's skills had improved as had her confidence, and her ritual dancing had calmed more than one minor Kami gone insane, which had allowed to resolve things peacefully. Each and every time she took to dancing, Saru, Kitsune, Lion-dogs and even Kuro, Rin's familiar, regrouped to watch, entranced by the offering to the Spirit Kingdom.  
Now, sword training with Rin, Fox Fire against the Flame of Satan, under the watchful eye of Shura, had become a pastime for the both of them. Which was also one of the reasons Rin was so bored right now: it was the end of the summer, and so Izumo had decided to go and celebrate the harvest in the most rural part of the country, where the offerings to Inari would be bountiful. So Rin had been left alone.

Shura, Rin's instructor... Well, she hadn't changed a lot. Less drunk and less swearing most of the time, the only thing really different about her was that sometimes, she would be seen cussing up a storm and throwing stones at a cute little white dog with a pink ribbon, that seemed to follow her most of the time. Of course, those that actually knew who the dog was, would just take care not to get in the way, knowing better than to pity the dog.

Talking about Mephisto, the poor demon had suffered a lot of trouble with the Grigori after they had realized he was the King of Time, even if he had managed to keep his position as head of the Japan branch of the Order. Of course, it had all been Amaimon's fault, what with calling him "big brother" in front of the Grigori? But Mephisto's trouble had only been beginning: Lucifer's declaration of war had been the spark which lit the fire, causing a lot of unplanned things to happen to him, and he was a bit lost as to what to do now. For example, he had taken to teasing Shura around, transforming into a dog an following her everywhere, changing her alcohol into water, spamming her on her phone... It was fun, especially when she tried -and failed- to trick and hurt him, but after she had literally collapsed into his arms after the declaration of war by Lucifer, the good-nature fun had turned into fascination. She was distracting, and interesting, and he wanted to figure her out, and it was annoying him to no end.

There was also the matter of Rin, who had taken to going to see him when he had a problem in his demonology, claiming that he just had to know these things since he was a demon, and besides, family was supposed to help each other, so why couldn't his 'new big brother Samael' help him become an Exorcist so he wouldn't be killed off by the Vatican?

But the greatest headache of Mephisto was currently his newest charge. Barely a month after the Inari Town mission, Amaimon had broken through a Grigori meeting, through all the barriers, Exorcists and guards, in the middle of the Courtroom, without any kind of warning. After greeting his Aniue -which had resulted in the Grigori finding out who he was-, the King of Earth had asked in so many words if he could join the fun.

After the initial shock -it's not every day a Hell King barges in your house- and a lot of shouting, attempted attacks, and a lot of dropped Baryions on the Exorcists backs, Amaimon had explained -sitting on a chair of baryions like a King on his throne- that if his Father or Lucifer Onii-sama destroyed Assiah, he would have to go back to Gehenna and would probably be punished, so he would better stay here in Assiah where he was actually having fun, and if he was going to be punished if the Exorcists failed, at least it would have been worth it. And besides, if Rin won, he wouldn't be scolded at all and keep his source of amusement, so he was better off joining the same camp as him. Besides, a lot of his power came from Assiah, and a lot of his sbjects currently resided there, so he had nothing to gain from Assiah's destruction, and everything to lose.

Amaimon had obviously spent a lot of time on his speech, and for once, he didn't have a lollipop in his mouth. The green-haired demon had offered several arguments, and made offers, for example, he had declared he would personally help making a big stock of what humans called 'sanctified soil' -and had let out a laugh, seeing as most of the holy water, blessed ashes, sanctified soil and venerated relics were actually just vessels of a demon of the same Kingdom's power, just like a demon Sword, that to actually bless water you had to borrow a Water demon's power, no matter what name you gave it, and that it had been thousands of years since the Gods had actually been interested in Assiah anyways- and so, he would also give them the official support of the Earth Kingdom, and that included not only their King, but every demon connected to Earth, from him to the tiniest of the Greenmen, as long as he could stay -under certain conditions of course- and that he was ready to hear any counter-offers.

Once they had recovered from their shock and processed what he had said, the Grigori had concerted for a long time before setting conditions. There would be no killing, maiming -including anything that could cause a Mashou-, stealing from humans or willfully destroying material property, just as there would be no revealing his nature to ordinary humans, and he would participate to any mission where he was really needed -meaning big Earth or Water demons in particular. Amaimon then requested a monthly allowance (mostly to buy candy), a free pass to most of the Academy, including the Exorcist shop -he wanted to see that garden his subjects kept talking about- and also keeping his Infinity Key in case he wanted to take a stroll somewhere and come back quickly. And there would be no making fun of him or anyone he spent his time with without his and their permission, or the 'no maiming' rule wouldn't stand. Same for if someone attacked him physically or tried to Exorcise him. The Grigori had him take a standard Exorcism test and a 'medical test' -where they could take samples and ask questions- and in return, Amaimon asked for the right to keep his Hobgoblin Behemoth with him, promising he would behave.

And thus, they had an accord. By then, Mephisto (and Angel) had been fuming but stood powerless as the King of Earth shook the Grigori's hands, popped a lollipop in his mouth, and dismissed all the demons he had summoned to immobilize the Exorcists.

A day later, Amaimon took a test, passing both Tamer and Knight without having to learn anything, and would probably had passed Doctor if he could actually touch _'that dreaded holy water'_. And thus, he moved in the Okumura dorm -that quickly became known as the Demon Brothers dorm- and to everyone's surprise, proved himself to be a pleasant roommate. Two months after his admission, he was as much part of the décor as Rin was, and actually taught useful tricks to whoever asked, be it in pharmacology or fist-fighting. He had accepted to help Rin pass that _'stupid Exam'_ whatever the cost, and was the one to push Rin out of bed when the alarm clock rang. He taught Rin demon etiquette like being ways to avoid being injured in a fight, like hiding his tail or using it as a balance, or where to hit to knock a human or a demon out without having to use his flames, and everyone was grateful to him because of it, because they could all see that now, Rin fought better and suffered less injuries.

But the greatest scandal had been with Shiemi. It was truly the most amazing thing that had happened in the Order since the news of Rin and Yukio's birth. Not only had the King of Earth publicly apologized to the young Tamer for his stunt with the Zhong Chi moths in the forest, and her following kidnapping, and not only had she forgiven him on the spot, but she had done so by hugging him, making him blush harder than a tomato. She had then declared -still in public, mind you!- that now that they had made peace, she would love to be his friend. Two days later, he was following her like a mix between a lost child and a terrifying bodyguard. No one had dared to mess with her ever since...

Ever since he had asked her _'who knows that place so well'_ where the garden the Dekalps kept talking about was situated, and she had led him straight to her own garden... Oh, upon seeing the place, he had stood frozen on the spot for a long time, mouth agape, transfixed. He told the others later that he had never seen a place in Assiah, except maybe for Babylonia's Royal Gardens or Versailles, where people had taken so much care of his subjects, and loved the Earth so much, and it was the first time it had all been done by a single person. The very soil of the place hummed with power and love, to the point it had driven his subjects there by the dozens. With Shiemi's accord, he had made it into a sanctuary for his Kin, declaring that the only thing missing to make it one was his personnal blessing anyways. Shiemi had felt so happy at the honor. Now, you only had to pay attention to see a random Greenman tending to a flower, a small Goblin weeding or watering, or a baryion somewhere humming softly.

Amaimon had, to bless the Earth and make his mark, created a giant tree in the back of the garden, whose branches he had twisted to create a net of wood, like a cocoon. Inside, he had made a great flower grow, with big pastel blue petals and a heart made of dandelion fuzz. If you searched for Amaimon in the afternoon and couldn't find him anywhere, it meant he was probably sleeping in this flowery nest. As for the anti-demon barrier Rin had knocked down the first time he came, it wasn't a problem anymore: with the King of Earth's personnal blessing, no demon in their right mind would ever dare to try and harm those which were under his protection.

After a few weeks of hesitation, when Amaimon had -finally- asked Shiemi out, had been also considered as a memorable moment in the history of True Cross: a Sub-King, a great Demon King, and a newly-graduated, human Exorcist, hugging in the middle of the street with goofy grins on their faces. Of course, the Grigori had not been pleased, but as Lightning had remarked: Moriyama Shiemi now had a Hell King at her disposal. So only Mephisto was left grieving for the loss of his carefully oiled plans, all for the interest of his baby brother for a human. What irony...

Shiemi herself had graduated in Tamer and Doctor. She tended to the shop, to her familiar and to her new improved garden with a lot of care. Her relationship with the Kingdom of Earth, and her belief in Amahara had made her place worthy of the Earth King's praise and she was glad for it. Amaimon had told her that he actually knew where the legendary Garden was, and promised her that once they won -if they won- and he could return safely to Gehenna, he would lead her to it. According to him, Amahara was a place he had created on a whim when he was still a small kid bullied by his peers, to escape the pressure and his overbearing family. It was a hidden place in his Kingdom of forests, protected by his subjects, where after hearing about the Garden of Eden, he had messed with the weather to create all the ecosystems existing on Earth. He then had planted seeds from all the plants of Assiah and Gehenna -the place was over 70 000 km wide, after all, the size of a little country- in order to create his own Eden, give the Greenmen a place to stay, and also hide his own Demon Heart, which was now known as the Rarest Flower of Gehenna for those who didn't actually know what it was.

And so, Amahara had become a myth, a place where a lot of demons would like to go at least once in their lives, but that no one had yet managed to find. She had often asked for a more accurate description, but Amaimon had always refused, saying that it only looked like a bigger version of her own place.

And so, our little blonde Exorcist could often be seen alone, sometimes dressed in a kimono, sitting on a bench in the park, waiting for class, for lunch, or for her (boy)friend with a smile on her face, dreaming of Amahara. She always carried a Just-In-Case shoulder bag containing summoning paper, her phone, some holy and normal water, and an emergency stack of candy in case Amaimon decided to pay her a visit. Recently, she had also acquired a small, but sharp dagger in her belt, a gift from Amaimon, 'For protection, when I cannot come immediately', he had said. But he often did. It was a pretty thing though, leaves and jeweled flowers carved in the hilt with a Damascus steel blade that looked like wood. She loved it. And she had totally forgotten her crush on Yukio by now, although Rin hadn't forgotten, and used every occasion he could to spar with his new 'Maimon nii-san, much to Yukio's chagrin.

Speaking of Yukio, he had awakened his powers 4 months ago. Apparently, the flare he had had when Tôdo had attacked him, in the Fujo-O debacle, had only been the starting point of a progressive awakening, and the stress levels had only quickened the process. But even though he discovered his own fire, his deny and fear of it had kept it weak and nearly harmless. He couldn't actually create a flame, the most he could summon was just sparks when he was really angry, and very rarely, blue flashes that lasted only a second when he was **really** in danger. Though, he had recently discovered, and with Rin's begging, used, that if he 'switched on' that particular state of mind he had, he could actually use his fire if it had a material vessel. For now, it was bullets.

And so, he had started training to fire blue-flaming shots. In order to train him, Rin and Shura had actually tried to make him light Peg Lanterns until one of his sparks succeeded and... Let's say it involved a lot of running after Shura to try and calm the lovesick object without killing it. It had taken a lot of time, but once Yukio had the 'switch' under control, their job had gotten easier. Well, actually, it had also taken a few accidents, a lot of tantrums, and it was only after everyone had given up that Mephisto had sent them all battle ghouls in a cemetery somewhere near Nagasaki that Yukio had finally found out an use for his Sparks. The bullets he used, full of blessed ashes -for Fire works against Rot- had suddenly caught on fire, because he had, in his panic and the emergency situation he was in, turned on the 'switch'. And later on, so caught up in his 'switch', he hadn't even noticed that he had continued on firing even though he had run out of bullets a long time ago. Afterwards, Rin had given him a thorough head-bashing and sermonized him on how he really needed to over think less and trust in himself more, and what about 'making us all think you were hopeless, you damn four-eyes scaredy-cat!'.  
Otherwise, Yukio hadn't changed much. A bit taller, a bit stronger, he had, though, abandoned his glasses when his powers had awakened. When he turned on the 'switch', his eyes momentarily changed into the characteristic demonic blue that was the twin's lot, and his vision went 10/10. But even afterwards, after 'switching' off, his turquoise eyes had kept a perfect vision. Now, only thing left to do, get rid of the moles...

That day, in the last week of the summer holidays, had been up until now just like any other. Counting the cracks in the ceiling, cooking, napping, and reading manga... Shiemi had left on a date with Amaimon, so she could be anywhere, from Mephyland to the Amazonian Rain Forest, so no use searching. Izumo had left with her familiars to go pay her homages to the God of Harvest Inari (it was the good season for it, after all...) so she was probably dancing somewhere in a temple, for the greatest pleasure of both deities and demons, so no use searching for a spar either. Yukio was currently studying for an Aria minor in hopes of getting another Master next year, so being _boring_ as Hell. So the only option left for Rin was to wait for someone to call on the Sons of Satan and hope that the mission/emergency/potential-end-of-the-world would be interesting. Rin didn't know it at the time but he should have been more careful of what he wished for. Because at this very moment, the phone rang. And their world, as well as everyone's, was turned upside-down again.

***

"Hello?" said Yukio, answering on the phone. On the other side, a woman answered.

"Mr Okumura Yukio?"

"Yes."

"You and Mr Okumura Rin are demanded to help for a case of murder."

"Where?"

"Tokyo, sir. Please come as soon as possible. Someone should wait for you near the HQ with a key. I say it again, please hurry..."

"Wait! What should we expect to find? Should we bring anything special?"

"Mr Okumura, there is no demon there at the moment, but we do need help in identifying the species of the creature responsible. Our experts are lost as to what it is, and so we need help in tracking it. For now, we only know that it is powerful, so please hurry!"

"Give me a Kingdom, at least!"

"None we could identify, but certainly not Earth, Rot, or Water."

When he hung up, Yukio suddenly found himself face to face with a very eager Rin, tail wagging like an excited puppy's. "So, was it a new mission?" said the blue-haired demon. Yukio sighed.

"Yes, Rin, although you probably shouldn't get so fired up. There will be no fighting in this particular case, it's an investigation."  
Rin frowned. "Investigation? Meaning they can't figure out what happened so they're asking us to do it for them?"

"I think it's more like calling YOU for help, you're the one who can sense demons after all... And besides, it's not what happened that they want you to find out, but what did it and why, if you catch my drift..."

Rin blinked once, twice, and finally asked "what kind of case did you say it was?"

"I didn't"

10 minutes of preparation saw the two Exorcists to their destination. The Exorcist Squad had put on a security perimeter, and all of them looked grim, if not sick. In a corner, speaking to a woman in civilian clothes, Rin saw a familiar safari hat peeking out. Strange. Why would they have been summoned if the ArchKnight was here? _'If it's Lightning the expert they were talking about, then it must be something big...'_ thought Rin._ 'And if even he didn't know what it was... A new kind of demon?'_ As Rin took a deep breath to help sense the responsible, a breeze brought to him the most horrible, bloody scent he had ever smelled. Gagging, the young Exorcist had to stop for a moment.

_'What the heck happened here? I've never felt anything so horrible since... Since..._ ' Eyes widening, Rin's head shot up, and he ran towards the crime scene, ignoring the startled shout of his brother. The last time he had smelled that scent had been in the Illuminati facility. It was the scent of rotting flesh, of stomach contents and of death, everything overwhelmed by the stench of blood. And to be so thick in the air, there must have been at least ten people that had been murdered, and in the most gruesome ways. It couldn't be more than a day old. Rin skipped to a stop when he came across the body of a woman with a head wound, who had clearly tried to flee and failed, and grumbled that _'whoever did it really had fun going in a full-on blood-lust'_, then strode more carefully this time towards the rest of the scene.

It was gory. It was gruesome. It stank. It was obviously a demon's work. What else could be strong enough to rip off heads and arms like that? It was impressive, though, and Rin, although thoroughly disgusted, had to commend the demon's work. Half-dried blood painted the walls and the ground in uneven puddles, guts were splattered along with brain matter like a pinkish carpet, necks had been wrung like rabbit's, heads removed, bones broken... And all of it seemed to have been done by claw, not by any kind of demonic energy... How strange. Demons usually attacked with their power, and only resorted to their claws and teeth when desperate and/or injured.

Rin crouched near a body, examining it: the white jacket, clan tattoos and gun holster, as well as the scars, labeled the man as a yakusa. Actually, all the men were yakusa... A robbery gone wrong? Because, actually, Rin reported his attention to the body, it had been a bullet that had killed the woman, not a demon's claws. Meaning the demon might have lashed out in retaliation... Or just gone crazy from the scent of blood.

A deep gash on the man's side drew his attention. Four wounds, parallel and of equal depth. Gingerly, Rin traced the bloody gashes with his fingers, not really surprised when he found that it fit. The demon had been in humanoid form. No, it had been in humanoid form while attacking, which was even worse! A demon strong enough to maintain a human form even when in a blood-lust could only mean two things: Nobility, or worse, Royalty. There were less than a hundred demons in Gehenna that could pretend to the first title, none of which had been seen since the Middle Ages at least, and as for the second... Rin felt sick only at the thought of a Hell King on the loose in Tokyo.

"LIGHTNING!" yelled Rin at the ArchKnight's intention. "That was an humanoid demon there! Any guesses on..." he jumped on his feet and raced to Lightning's side in a little more than a second before finishing in a softer voice "... which one of the Hell Nobles it was? Because the wounds were made by human-like claws, so it's either Nobility or a Sub-King, and I don't even want to think about the latter."

The ArchKnight held out a hand to silence Rin, and told him: "I know. Something came up while you and your brother were coming here, something important."

"Something?"

"Someone." corrected Lightning. "A witness. She says she saw everything, gave a good description of what happened, and... says the demon saved her."

And he pointed to the woman he had been talking to earlier. She was discussing with an Exorcist with a notepad, looking as scared and shy as the small child hiding behind her leg. She made gestures while talking. Rin's ears caught a Chinese accent. She was trying to describe the killer, and obviously failing, judging by the Exorcist's puzzled face. Rin cleared his throat to ask for attention and began.  
"Excuse me, are you... Eh?"

He didn't have time to finish, for as soon as she had noticed him, the young woman pointed her finger at him and yelled: "Like him!" and started circling the half-demon, observing him from all angles.

She continued, obviously very excited: "He looked just like him! Same ears, same teeth, same shine in the hair, but..." she frowned, inching closer to Rin's face and continued in a strange voice "But also same chin, same high cheekbones, same set of the jaw... and nose bridge... Oh God! Are you related to him?"

All the Exorcists who had been listening suddenly looked at Rin and recoiled involuntarily. Rin's gaze met Lightning's and saw that they were thinking the same thing. He gulped.

As far as they knew, Rin Okumura shared his features, and most importantly, his face shape and cheekbones with the members of the Baal, of Satan's family. Mephisto, Lucifer, Amaimon's and Yukio's faces attested to that. To find such a high-level demon sharing those features as well could only mean one thing: there was a Hell King in Tokyo.

***

"So, you say he created a smoke screen, or something that looked like it, to separate the fight from you? And then he killed the yakusa, made the screen disappear and carried you both to the main street without even scratching you, looking all in all like a perfect gentleman after killing a dozen persons? Somehow, I find that hard to believe. Don't you?"

Yukio slapped his brother upside the head for the trouble and cleared his throat before going with a professional tone:

"The smoke screen, as she said, is the only indication of demonic power being used at all in this fight. The demon being a Hell King, we can rule out Samael, Lucifer and Amaimon of course, but for the rest... I'd say it could be Azazel, Astaroth or Beelzebub... "

Rin shook his head. "No, I've seen Astaroth once, the old man exorcised him the day my powers awakened, remember? It isn't him. I'm not too sure about Beelzebub either, since Amaimon described him as an _'uncouth lazy bum_', so not very gentlemanly. Azazel... well, it could be. But I'm not making any suppositions as long as Mephisto isn't here. And besides," he threw his arms wide to emphasize his point "do we even have any proof that it's a Hell King at all? I mean, even the Azazel hypothesis sound almost ridiculous. Don't Satan have any... distant cousins or anything? Or it could be another demon that just happened to share the same features! ... No?"

Yukio made a face while Lightning snickered.

"I don't think Satan has any 'distant cousins' as you put it, Rin... As for your hypothesis, even if it is another demon, we still have to wait for Sir Pheles to tell us more... about THIS."

And Yukio gestured to the portrait one of the Exorcists had drawn of Rin's face, modified at the eyes, hair, brow and mouth to look like the demon the witness had described. All in all, it looked like Rin with a long fringe covering half his face, sad green eyes, and the typical Hell King hairdo -slicked, shoulder-length hair with a weird addition to it- but surprisingly, the only weird addition to the hair was the fringe in itself, which didn't make him look ridiculous. Not too much. It made him look strange and perfect, almost in an angelic way.

And it was in moments like these that Rin dreaded to see what his real father looked like. Would the Devil actually look like the angel he had once been?

***

Not even 5 minutes after the call from Lightning -on Yukio's phone-, the flamboyant demon arrived. Flashy and garish as ever, Mephisto wore his habitual devilish smirk like a crown, twirling his umbrella around his wrist as he strode down in the alley like he owned the place.

But his self-confidence didn't last more than three seconds. 10 meters into the alley, Mephisto Pheles froze on the spot, eyes widening until his pupils were mere pinpricks, sniffing the air like a dog who'd caught a scent, an expression of disbelief on his face. His umbrella fell to the ground with a thunk, unnoticed.

An angel passed. Mephisto was biting his lip so hard it had pierced skin and a trickle of blood was now running down his chin. His head lowered until his hat and hair was obscuring his face and hiding his expression. Rin and Yukio's sharpened hearing caught a whisper.

"It cannot be..."

Mephisto's hands were trembling, and when he finally raised his head, although he had regained his composure, his eyes looked haunted. Rin wondered who exactly could have made the King of Time lose his composure like that. Even when Lucifer had attacked, he hadn't lost control over his emotions, and he doubted even Satan could achieve such a feat. So who?

Mephisto slowly walked until he reached the crime scene. His eyes scanned the bodies, and he kept frowning even as he reached down to lightly trace the claw marks on one of the corpses, like Rin had done minutes before. His white cuffs became stained red; he didn't seem to notice.

"How did he? When did he? And why, by the Gates of Hel, _why_?..."

Mephisto looked like he was choking on something. He sniffed another body that had been gutted like a fish. "A blood-lust... What possessed him to do something so reckless? And how did he manage to break out of it in time?"

As he watched his newly-acknowledged older brother mumble to himself, looking like a broken man for all to see, Rin suddenly felt like he had enough of all that crap. He crouched next to Mephisto and put a firm hand on his shoulder.

"You know him, don't you? You've known him for a long time."

The purple head shot up. "Know... You could say that. It's more like I know of him. No one has seen hair nor tail of him for... Oh, about millenia now. About as long as he has lived. Some of us even thought he was dead, but his scent is impossible to misplace."  
Rin nodded. "The scent of kin... No, of family, right?"

The older demon nodded with a faint chuckle. "Yes. You're getting better at using your nose, I see. We'll make a proper demon out of you yet... " His feeble attempt at joking made Rin smile. It was obvious he was distressed, but he added

"Which one of your... Of **our** brothers was it? Yukio says it isn't Egyn of Iblis, and I have my doubts about Astaroth, but then there aren't many left... And why are you shaking your head like this?"

"He isn't one you exorcists have ever dealt with, or even heard of, Rin. Even in Gehenna, his existence is known only by a handful of people, his life considered by the rest as a legend, a story told to frighten misbehaving hatchlings... "

"Meaning?" Mephisto rose to his full height with a sigh and declared:

"Meaning the one who did this has been banned from Gehenna for as long as he has lived, and thus should not have been able to access this Realm. Meaning the one you're searching for is the 6th born son of Satan, Kage, the King of Darkness, and that in terms of power, his level is equal to Lucifer's." Mephisto paused for a second. "Kage's story is probably the greatest tragedy that ever happened in our family. He was the only one we could all agree to say that we loved him, a sweet child and a promising King. To this day, I still have no idea what happened exactly, but we still all mourn what could have been..."

Rin nodded slowly, still trying to process all the information, and finally declared:

"I think I understand why you reacted like this, now."

***

Rin sighed deeply. Mephisto had been so shaken that he had been excused immediately after his little speech, mainly on Rin's advice, with the mission of telling Amaimon the news (when he got back from his date) and ordering his own thoughts. Yukio was talking in a hushed voice to Lightning. The rest of the Squad was taking samples and cleaning the mess.

Rin straightened his jacket and loosened his tie to breathe better. That demon, _Kage_ or whatever, had been injured in the brawl: the scent of demon blood had nearly been drowned in all the gore, but the puddle of black-as-pitch blood in the middle of the scene was proof enough of the injury. Adding to that the mental and physical strain of breaking out of a bloodlust, that Kage must be somewhere supposed safe, sleeping away the exhaustion or meditating his mental control back -Rin had seen and did it before. So he must be somewhere nearby, immobile and running on base thoughts and instincts. Now, to find him...

Rin concentrated on his demon Heart, and shouted a warning to his fellow Exorcists before sending out, in every direction and as far as he could, a blue-white Pulse of pure power, projecting his flame far and wide.

It was a trick he had learned with Amaimon, a signal convecting the sender's thoughts and feelings, that could be used either as a warning, a SOS, or just a demand for answer. If it was used as such, the surrounding demons had almost no choice: they sent out a Pulse of their own without even realizing it, and the more powerful the demon, the greater, and longer the Pulse. Plus, a demon's Pulse carried their own energy, under the form of feelings, a scent, a taste, and for powerful demons, even images. It allowed for a quick identification of, if not the species, at least the Kingdom of the receiver. With any luck, it would be enough to locate the runaway King.

Rin waited about 10 seconds before the first Return Pulses arrived to him. A Ghost, a cluster of CoalTar, a Ghoul in the sewers... and a Mayuko ghost in the 4th floor's toilets... They were all weak, barely noticeable Pulses, not what he was seeking, and then...

**_BA-DUMP!_**

A flash of dark light invaded Rin's mind for an instant. A taste of fresh air in the night, of nuts and dark, rich chocolate. The curve of a moon in a starlit sky. More powerful than Amaimon, even more powerful than Samael's and less than two kilometers away, shining like a dark beacon.

Rin bolted, sword unsheathed, all senses focused on the direction of the Pulse. Far away, he heard Lightning yell for the rest of the team to follow.

The hunt was on.

Next time: Aftermath of a blood bath

**A/N: I'll be beginning a new story, called "**_**Satan's Short Story About Everything**_**", that will explain some details of Gehenna and Assiah to you**.  
**Remember, reviewing makes me update faster.**


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